Us And Them
by MorningSkies
Summary: A series of unrelated one shots featuring each next generation character and their relationship with their parents. A mixture of humour, fluff and a touch of sadness.
1. Lily and Harry

Lily Luna Potter was devastated as she watched the Hogwarts Express pull away, taking James and Albus with it. Admittedly she spent most of her time arguing with them, but now that they were gone until Christmas, she felt even worse than she had done when Aunt Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, had died.

And the icing on the stale, sour cake was that she had to wait another two years until she could join them. _Two years! _That was a lifetime away- or at least it seemed like that to a nine year old.

Beside her on the platform, her Mum wiped her eyes slightly and her Dad continued waving at the train even when it had sped out of view. Great, so she had two years with no one but her parents for company. No doubt they'd spend it discussing taxes and the Ministry, or whatever else it was that parents talked about. Lily thought it highly unlikely that she'd still be alive by the time her brothers came home for the holidays; she probably wouldn't last more than a couple of weeks before dying of boredom.

'Are you okay, Lils?' asked her Mum, giving her a knowing look, as though she understood all too well how Lily was feeling.

Lily opened her mouth to say that she was fine, but to her horror she burst into tears instead.

'I miss them already!' she wailed, while her cousin Hugo- who was as comfortable around emotional people as Uncle Ron was- gave her an appalled look.

'Don't worry,' said Harry soothingly, 'It'll be the Christmas holidays before you know it, then they'll be home annoying you and you'll wish they were back at Hogwarts.'

'But I don't want to be at home on my own!' protested Lily, feeling incredibly sorry for yourself.

'Lils, your mum and I live with you as well,' pointed out Harry.

Ginny was about to say something, when the large clock caught her eye and she jumped slightly, 'Harry, I really need to get back to the office. I've got that meeting in half an hour. Will you be alright with Lily?'

Lily stopped crying and folded her arms in the way she always did when she was annoyed about something. Surely she wasn't that much of a burden that her dad couldn't cope with her?

'We'll be fine,' Harry reassured his wife, kissing her on the cheek, 'See you tonight.'

'Okay,' Ginny turned to her daughter, 'Bye, Lily, I'll see you later.'

I wouldn't count on it, thought Lily, who was already wondering if she could somehow sneak up to Hogwarts that night and beg the teachers to let her start two years early. She wasn't exactly sure where it was, though, except that it was in Scotland. Maybe Hugo could help her- he wanted to go to Hogwarts as much as she did.

She glanced over at her cousin but saw he was happily chattering away with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione as though the world hadn't just ended. The traitor, Lily thought bitterly.

'So, what do you want to do today Lils? I've got the whole day off, you can choose what we do.'

Lily looked up to see her dad talking to her, clearly trying to bribe her so she would forget all about the injustice of not being allowed to go to Hogwarts. Well, it wasn't going to work, she thought smugly.

* * *

Two hours later, and Harry's bribery had worked. While the trip to Uncle George's shop and the large ice cream that followed hadn't made Lily forget about the departure of her brothers, it had succeeded in temporarily distracting her.

In fact, thought Lily, as she enjoyed the strawberry sundae in front of her, she could get used to it just being her and her parents, if this was the kind of treatment she was going to get.

'Feeling better now?' asked her dad, giving her a smile from across the table.

'Yep,' she said, scooping up the last bite of her delicious ice-cream, 'can we come here tomorrow?'

'Maybe not,' laughed Harry, 'And don't tell your mum you had that large an ice cream.'

'Okay,' agreed Lily, feeling a lot better than she had done at King's Cross.

'You ready to go home?'

She nodded and followed her dad out of the café and back down Diagon Alley. Then she took his arm and the horrible, claustrophobic sensation that came with apparition washed over her.

'I'm never learning to apparate,' she declared, once they'd arrived back home, and Harry was unlocking the front door.

'You don't need to; you're going to be an amazing flier.'

'Yeah!' agreed Lily excitedly, jumping into the house.

She could now see that there were definite benefits to James and Al being away. There would be no one to come bursting into her room when she wanted some peace and quiet, there would be no horrible socks left on the landing, and she could play whatever position she wanted in Quidditch, rather than always having to be a Chaser.

Singing happily to herself, Lily took off her shoes and dashed up to her bedroom, where she could do whatever she wanted without being disturbed. She chose a book off the shelf and collapsed onto her bed to read it.

However, after ten minutes or so of reading about fairies and goblins, she realised just how quiet it was. Usually the house was filled with noise, as James and Al yelled at one another about something, or teased her about something else. But now it was silent.

A rising feeling of panic rose in Lily, as she realised just how much she was going to miss her brothers. And never mind choosing her Quidditch position- who on earth was she going to play Quidditch _with_?!

'Daddy!' she jumped off her bed and ran downstairs as fast as she could.

It only took a moment to find a rather bemused looking Harry, sitting at his desk in the study, going through some paperwork.

'What's up, Lils?' he asked, most of his attention focused on the documents in front of him.

'You need to go to Hogwarts and bring James and Albus home!' she declared, putting her hand on her hip in the way she always did when she meant business.

Harry took one look at his nine year old daughter, standing there with such a serious expression on her face, and burst out laughing. This was not the appropriate response from Lily's point of view.

'Hey!' she exclaimed, looking annoyed at first, and then more and more tearful.

'Sorry, Lily,' said Harry honestly, holding out his arms to her.

Only because she was upset (or so she told herself), Lily climbed onto her dad's knees like she had done when she was a toddler. There was something incredibly reassuring about being hugged by her dad, she had to admit, even though she thought nine year olds were way too old for cuddles.

'I really miss James and Albus,' she mumbled weakly.

'I know, I do too.'

'Really?' Lily asked, giving Harry and incredulous look, 'But they're so loud and messy.'

He laughed, 'Well why do you miss them then?'

Lily thought about this for a moment, unsure what the honest answer to that was.

'Because I do!' she exclaimed after a while.

Harry laughed again and gently flicked his daughter's nose like he had done when she was little.

'That's not making me feel better!'

'Sorry,' he chuckled, 'you know, Lily, I really miss them as well, and of course I wish that both of them were here. But I know that they'll be having a great time at Hogwarts, and that makes me happy. And I know you want them to have fun as well, don't you?'

'I suppose,' admitted Lily grudgingly.

'And,' continued Harry, 'even though I'm going to miss the boys, I'm also really looking forward to spending some time with just you.'

Lily was about to protest but stopped herself; she'd not thought about it in that way. But now she did, she realised that she hardly ever had any one on one time with her parents, because James and Albus were always there as well. It wasn't that she didn't like the five of them being together, but it would be nice to do things with her mum and dad alone.

'I do like it when it's just me, you and mummy,' she conceded after a while.

'Me too,' agreed Harry, 'but that doesn't mean I don't like it when the boys are here too.'

'Yeah, yeah,' said Lily, laughing at his typically parental response.

'And I'm going to miss you so much when you finally go to Hogwarts,' Harry added, his voice sounding slightly constricted.

The sudden realisation that in only two years' time she wouldn't see her dad everyday was rather painful for Lily. She wondered if every student missed their parents, or if she would be the only one; James had said he'd not missed any of them.

'Daddy?' she asked in a quiet voice, 'What if I get to Hogwarts and I miss you too much?'

'You won't, Lily. You'll be too busy making new friends and causing trouble to miss me.'

Lily still wasn't convinced, 'But didn't you miss your aunt and uncle at all when you went?'

Harry spluttered with laughter, 'Not one bit. Although I like to think I'm a bit nicer to you than they were to me.'

Lily nodded her agreement and they both sat in silence for a while.

'Love you, Daddy,' she said after a few minutes.

'Love you too, Lils.'

'Daddy?'

'Yeah?'

'Can James and Albus stay at Hogwarts for Christmas please?'

* * *

**Hope you liked the first one shot! **

**The next one is going to be Ginny and James, and let's just say it'll involve Ginny finding out something she really doesn't want to know. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave me a review :) **


	2. James and Ginny

**James and Ginny**

James Sirius Potter had been looking forward to the first Saturday in August for absolutely ages. Being part of a large family meant there were constantly people dropping round to say hello, not to mention the fact that Lily and Albus always seemed to be hanging around the house. It was fair to say that privacy was scarce.

Now none of that usually bothered James. In fact, he enjoyed seeing various cousins when they turned up unannounced, and he considered it a morning wasted if he hadn't manage to torment Al to distraction.

Everything had changed this summer though. Somehow (and he still wasn't sure how he'd done it), James had left his sixth year with a proper girlfriend. Not someone he just fooled around with in broom cupboards, and not someone who wouldn't look at him twice if his surname wasn't Potter, but an actual serious girlfriend.

Nicola was absolutely perfect in James' eyes, and he'd happily spend every moment of every day with her if he had the chance. And that was where the problem began.

So far, James had found it impossible to have some privacy when Nicola came round to see him. If it wasn't his parents bombarding him with nosy questions, then it was Al and Lily teasing them senseless.

And that was why James had been eagerly anticipating the first Saturday in August, when he knew for a fact that the house would be deserted. His dad would be working, as would Uncle Ron, who had a tendency to turn up unannounced and ask embarrassing questions about James' relationship. James' mum was planning on spending the day with Hermione, Al was going over to one of his friends' houses, and Lily was tagging along with him.

So, all in all, James felt very satisfied as he waved them all off on the Saturday morning and waited for Nicola to arrive.

He was standing in front of the hallway mirror, ruffling up his hair, when there was a knock on the front door. James wretched the door open to find Nicola standing there smiling.

'Hey,' he muttered, instantly wrapping his arms around her and kissing her.

'Hi,' laughed Nicola when they came up for air a few minutes later, 'So, is your family out?'

'Yep,' nodded James, leaning round her to shut the front door, 'We've got the whole place to ourselves.'

Nicola raised her eyebrows in her signature way that always made James go weak at the knees, 'What shall we do?'

Less than a minute later, the two of them crashed into James' bedroom, stumbling over the possessions strewn across the floor, and collapsing onto his bed. The whole thing was a bit of a blur, but James found himself on top of Nicola, and since he quite liked that position, he kissed her again.

They did this for a while, before their hands started wandering. Nicola traced her fingertips along James' spine, making him shiver, while his hands stroked her stomach and then began moving upwards.

Getting impatient with the amount of clothing between them, James pulled off his shirt, and leant back down to kiss Nicola. His fingers were just moving up underneath her top, when the unmistakable sound of footsteps appeared on the landing.

'James, I- AARGHH!'

Frozen in a state of absolute horror, James turned his head to see his mother standing in the doorway, looking as though she wanted to tear her own eyes out in order to forget what she'd just seen.

Ginny opened her mouth several times, but appeared to have lost the ability to speak. Instead, she just dashed back downstairs, leaving the most awkward atmosphere in history behind her.

'That did not just happen,' groaned James, collapsing onto the bed beside Nicola.

'Your mother just walked in on us… doing _stuff!' _exclaimed Nicola, looking half horrified and half as though she wanted the ground to swallow her up.

James cringed at the sound of her words. What the hell was his mum doing home?! She was supposed to be with Hermione, not accidently intruding on her son and his girlfriend.

'I think I might leave,' said Nicola delicately.

James didn't blame her for wanting to do so. In fact, he felt sorely sorry that he couldn't do the same; maybe he should go to Teddy's place and beg to be allowed to stay.

'See you,' he muttered, as Nicola detangled herself from the bed and disapparated within the space of five seconds.

Now what was he supposed to do?!

Putting his shirt on was probably a start, he thought, as he yanked his t-shirt back over his head. He glanced in the mirror on the opposite wall and attempted in vain to flatten his hair so it didn't look as though he'd just been rolling around in bed.

No it was no use, he thought in frustration, as his messy black hair continued to stick up even more than usual. The only solution was to not leave his room for the next month, until he returned to Hogwarts. That way he wouldn't have to face his mother, and then he could stay at school for Christmas and Easter and get his own place once the year had finished. After that he just had to avoid all family birthdays, weddings and funerals for the rest of his life and the problem was solved.

However, a sudden movement in the corner of his eye thwarted his plan. James turned to see Ginny standing in the doorway, looking embarrassed but rather resolute about something; he hadn't factored into his plan the fact that she might come into his room.

'Hi,' he said awkwardly, unsure what the conversational protocol was in situations like this.

Ginny moved into the room and took a seat on his desk chair. 'James, what are we going to do with you?' she sighed, shaking her head.

This immediately put James on the defensive, and before he knew it he was blurting out all kinds of stuff.

'Mum, you can't tell me off for this! Everyone does it, loads of people have done worse! Last year Fred hooked up with someone in the Quidditch changing rooms, and Dominique has a new boyfriend every week, and Al spends a lot of time in broom cupboards, and…'

Ginny cut him off, looking as though she'd just be mentally scarred for life, 'James, as much as I love hearing such details about my son and my nieces and nephews personal lives, I'm not here to tell you off.'

'You're not?' asked James, wondering if he'd ever heard his mother say she _wasn't_ about to tell him off before. Normally she spent about ninety per cent of the day berating him for something or other. Sneaking off to the pub with Fred, whacking Al with a broomstick, those kind of trivial things…

'Nope,' said Ginny, shaking her head, 'But we do need to talk.'

'Actually, I think I'd rather you just tell me off,' back tracked James quickly, as a horrific image of his mother attempting to have The Talk with him appeared in his mind.

James' father had subjugated him and Al to that talk a couple of years ago. Given how awkward all three of the Potter men were when it came to discussing things like _that, _the whole conversation had been absolutely excruciating. For weeks afterwards, James woke up in a cold sweat, having relived the torture in his dreams- although night terror was probably a more appropriate term there.

'No, you and I are talking, James,' said Ginny firmly.

'So,' she continued after a moment, 'How do you feel about Nicola?'

James stopped midway through wondering if he could Muffliato himself. She was asking him about his feelings for Nicola? He'd been expecting a lecture about abstinence, or contraception at the very least.

'Erm,' was his articulate reply.

He sat in silence for a moment, trying to work out what he wanted to say. Ginny meanwhile looked at him with an open and understanding expression that he found somewhat encouraging.

'I really like her,' he conceded after a while, 'As in I really, really like her.'

'Good,' smiled Ginny, 'I'm glad to hear that.'

James gaped at her, 'Really?'

'Of course,' laughed Ginny, 'She's a really nice girl and she obviously makes you happy.'

This conversation was not going how James had expected it to go. 'But don't you think I'm too young for a serious girlfriend?' he protested feebly.

Ginny laughed again, 'I'd be a bit hypocritical if I did. I was younger than you when I had my first boyfriend.'

'Yeah, yeah, I know you and Dad got together at school,' said James hastily, not wanting a retelling of his parents' relationship.

'Oh your father wasn't my first boyfriend,' said Ginny brightly, 'That was Michael Corner.'

'What?!' exclaimed James, almost falling off the bed in a shock at this revelation, 'You went out with Samuel Corner's dad?!'

Ginny nodded as though she'd told him nothing more interesting than that it was raining. James meanwhile thought of Samuel Corner, an incredibly annoying Ravenclaw in the year below.

'If Samuel is anything to go by then you should have had better taste,' said James, wrinkling his nose in disgust, 'dated any of my other classmates' fathers?'

'Well there was Dean Thomas. I think his daughter is in Lily's year.'

'I was joking!' choked James.

Ginny laughed at her son and shook her head, 'This may surprise you, but you're not the first generation to have boyfriends and girlfriends.'

James was about to change the subject, when curiosity won him over, 'Did Dad have loads of girlfriends?'

Ginny was clearly having a hard time keeping a straight face, 'Let's just say he didn't have much of a way with the ladies.'

James sniggered, thinking his dad sounded a lot like Hugo, who turned a vivid shade of red and started babbling about the weather whenever a girl came within ten feet of him.

'Hugo's like that,' chuckled James, finding that he was suddenly enjoying this conversation now it had moved away from his own love life.

Ginny rolled her eyes, 'Well Ron was a complete idiot when he was that age as well.'

'Really?' asked James, feeling intrigued.

'Oh yes,' laughed Ginny, 'It took him seven years to get together with Hermione. And in the mean time she attacked him with a flock of birds, he dated a girl who called him Won-Won, and he tore the arm off of a figurine of one of Hermione's boyfriends.'

James laughed as he thought just how similar Hugo was to Uncle Ron. Then he realised something, 'Hang on! Who the hell did Aunt Hermione date that had a figurine of himself? Was he famous?'

'You know who Viktor Krum is, don't you?'

This time James really did fall off of his bed in shock. It took a few minutes for him to compose himself and get back up; these revelations about his family's love lives should come with some kind of health warning.

'I think we've gone a bit off topic,' chuckled Ginny, 'Now back to Nicola.'

To his surprise, James was no longer apprehensive about talking to his mum about Nicola. If what he'd just heard was true, then between her, Dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, they had experienced every possible romantic issue already.

'Just treat her well,' said Ginny, 'Take her to Hogsmede, tell her she's beautiful. That kind of thing.'

'I already do!' protested James.

'Good,' smiled Ginny, standing up from her seat, 'That's all I need to say, I think.'

She leant over to ruffle his hair, an annoying habit that she'd always done when he was little.

However, as he watched her walk out of the room, James realised that he may just have the coolest mum in history. She knew he was doing _stuff _with his girlfriend and she hadn't so much as batted an eyelid. His friends' parents were much more strict, and James knew loads of people who had to keep relationships secret. But his mum was completely fine about it. And the best thing was that he hadn't had to endure an excruciating talk about sex.

'Oh James?' Ginny had stuck her head round the doorframe.

'Yeah?'

'For the love of God make sure you use a Contraceptive Charm. In fact, I might get your father to have a talk with you again.'

* * *

**So what did you think? This one was meant to be a bit funnier than the last one, so hopefully that came across. **

**I'm not sure which pair to do next. Maybe Scorpius and Draco? **

**Anyway, thanks for reading. Please leave me a review :) **


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